Hi, my name is Cheri, and I made a quilt.

Which to me, is the equivalent of running a marathon. Okay, maybe a half marathon. I finally decided enough was enough. I was going to make a quilt. I've started and schemed a few in the past, but I never actually finished them. I'm not very good at big time-consuming projects. I tend to have crafting ADD. If I can't sit down and finish something that day {or in an hour}, I lose interest and it gets lost in the closets of supplies. Sad unfinished projects haunt my craft room.

But this time would be different! And it turns out it was. Encouragement from quilter friends and instagram kept me going so much that I finished it within a few hours. Bravo me! Seriously, besides my desire for the kiddo to have a homemade quilt of her own, the reality of actually finishing a quilt is my craft success of the year. So the fact that I took so many photos to document it isn't a surprise. Here's some eye candy for you all on this chilly Friday morning. Enjoy! {Ignore the folding lines in the quilt, I'm new at this.}

 

 

 

Delicious Dishes: Paleo pancakes

Or how one woman survived giving up fluffy cakes of sugary goodness for breakfast.

This is my story, folks, so I might as well write it, yes? Well if I am going to give up wheat and grains then there has to be a good alternative right? Enter almond meal/flour. I haven't bought the flour yet but I hear it's pricey. For now the meal will have to do and at three dollars for 16oz, it's nothing to sneeze at.

Regardless, I tweaked the 'toddler pancake' recipe into something the whole family could enjoy.

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas
4 eggs
8 tbsp almond meal {I found mine at Trader Joes}
4 tbsp almond milk {I used unsweetened}
1/4 c shredded carrot

This is simple really. Empty all the ingredients into a bowl and combine by mixing with a whisk. Then you just make them like you would any other pancakes, on a hot griddle/frypan. I should add here that you want to think more like silver-dollar pancakes than regular sized cakes since these stay thin making them harder to flip. I used grass-fed butter as a pan greaser but you could also use a little bit of coconut oil. Some Paleo advocates say it's ok to use grass-fed butter in your cooking and baking, which I find won't splatter like hot coconut oil will. I found the butter at Trader Joes as well which is great for budget-friendly shoppers like me...

In conclusion, this is a great alternative to the wheat-based pancakes. We didn't use any syrup and they were still amazing. No sugar, no syrup, and still, everyone loved them. It's hard to give up things you've been used to eating your whole life, but if you look hard enough you may find there are wonderful and tasty alternatives. Enjoy!

George's biggest fan

This kid LOVEs Curious George. And to play with her feet. And not wearing pants. All three at once? Pure bliss.

Learning our colors, crafty-style

I sometimes forget that I need to teach her a few things here and there, like counting, colors, words, shapes, how to brush her teeth, to be polite {actually, we're really good at that one} and pretty much everything. Usually it just takes showing her once. Then she picks it up and we move on. Well, I decided if we were going to learn our colors, it might as well be creatively. Because she is, after all, my daughter.

I give you peak-a-peeps! Silly name I know. But the general idea is there. Learn your colors and learn how to compare and match them up.

You can pick up packages of these little candle cups and the wooden pegs at any craft store. I just used acrylic paints and sealed with a spray gloss. Simple enough to do in front of the tv. Well, besides the gloss sealant part. I don't think the husband would appreciate me spraying that stinky mess on the living room floor.

I think she likes them! And I can already see her little brain making the connections of color to color. Success!

Ah, summer, with your necessary indulgences.

You know what's hilarious? The faces you make when running through a sprinkler. Seriously. Hilarious.

 And then there's the sandbox I made. It is a BIG hit with the wee one. She loves digging and burying and unearthing. We've been taking a lot of baths around here lately. Ahhh, summer.

 

Moon moon moon, shining bright

After a quick set-up, I was able to capture this image of the giant moon. Not bad for a simple DSLR. But this is why you need to use your manual settings. You can get incredible pictures, but not if you rely on the automatic modes to do it for you. Just bought yourself a thousand dollar camera? Then it's time to invest in a basic course on how to use it. Most of these courses are offered at your local community colleges or even your local camera shops. Look around, it's well worth the hundred dollar investment. You'll have a lot more photos you're proud of and you'll be getting your money's worth out of your camera. You should also invest in a photo editing program like Lightroom or Photoshop Elements. But just remember kids, a fancy photo effect doesn't make a crappy photo good, it just makes it look like a crappy over-edited photo. {End rant.}

Craftilicious: the wooden peg family

With a little acrylic paint, a few wooden pegs from the craft store and an hour in front of the tv, I was able to make us into a little peg family. {Just don't forget to seal the final product with some spray gloss sealer!} Because every kid needs a miniature version of their family, right? Turns out, E's been using them in her 'Little People' house. They're a bit small for all the holes, but she doesn't seem to mind. And I don't mind that they cost less than a quarter of what 'Little People' are going for these days! I think it's time to make a few animal versions. After all, doesn't the dollhouse need some farm animals if it plans to be self-sufficient?

Bebe Van Gogh

To say we had a good first time painting, would be a serious understatement. I guess anything that gets you dirty must be fun? At least that's what a toddler thinks. And anything that leads to a bath is just plain awesome. So, she did really well with her first experience. I think we found our new rainy day activity. Absolutely.

 

 

Craftilicious: shabby chic frame tutorial

You know those frames that are all the rage but cost an arm and a leg? Well I figured out how to make one for 2-3$ assuming you have the supplies on hand. First you need to get one of those nifty 40-50% off craft coupons. Then you need to get to Michaels, pick one of the ready-to-finish frames from their raw wood aisle, use your coupon and only pay a few dollars for the frame.

Now you'll need some leftover paint {I used the white from my house trim}, some sandpaper, wood stain, and paintbrushes/rags.

The first step is to use the sandpaper to round all the edges on the frame, giving it more dimension. The original frame is all straight edged and won't give you that good crafted look we want. I actually used a Dremel to make my edges but sandpaper would work just fine.

Next you'll paint your frame whatever color you prefer. Keep it light though, so your stained edges don't get lost. Once the paint is completely dry, maybe wait a day or so, take the sandpaper and give your edges a worn look, so the raw wood comes through the paint. Now take your wood stain, and lightly apply it to those raw areas and then wipe off immediately. All the raw areas will soak up the stain so be deliberate with where you want it.

That's it, a cheap fabulous frame, enjoy!

Easy {& cheap} wall art for the home

Have a wall to fill but don't have big money to spend on frames? Try thinking outside the frame. Buy a few photo mattes, print some family photos and hang them using simple office supplies like binder clips. I went all fancy and decorated my clips with washi tape. I made a grouping of three 11x17s with 5x7 openings but you can do whatever works for your space. Maybe a pair of 2 or a group of 6 in two rows of three? The possibilities are endless. And you can change out the photos in a jiff!

Craftilicious: IKEA $3 pillow hack

How great are these pillows?! AND they cost me three dollars per cover. {!!} These IKEA Gurli covers are $3 a piece. Seriously. You can't even buy the material and the zipper for that much. Then the time to make them...yeesh.

So I splurged on the covers {ha} and spent the time on the embellishing part. And honestly, it took me an hour to do all five? {There's a duplicate not pictured, since it's going up in the guest bedroom...}

To make your own, you need a computer, Word {ick, but sometimes that's all you've got} or a graphics program, some fabric paint, a couple of foam brushes, scissors {an exacto knife works much better} and freezer paper.

I pulled a scooter graphic from the web, enlarged it to letter paper, printed it and traced it onto my freezer paper. {I added the felt wheels and headlight just for fun, but it's not necessary.} The image you choose doesn't have to be great quality since you're just tracing over it and you can adjust the edges to be smooth when you cut them. The + and the & are GillSans BOLD font enlarged to letter size, printed and traced onto freezer paper. If you've never done freezer paper stencils then you don't know what you're missing. The yellow color block pillow was just made using masking tape. 

I mixed my own color for the blue, but the yellow is straight out of the bottle. Once you have your freezer paper stencils ironed to your pillows, put a piece of cardboard in the middle to avoid bleeding onto the back and start applying your paint making sure to press straight down onto the pillow to avoid bleeding under the stencil. It's not likely but it can happen and you'll be sad when you remove the stencil and you have a blob outside the line...

That's it, it's easy! The hardest part is picking what you want for your designs. Enjoy the process!

Watermelon madness

SO before the big tooth debacle of last week, I introduced her to a summer favorite: watermelon. And she loved it. Here's to summer!

Martha does it again

Did you know they have a whole new line of Martha Stewart jewel design tools at Michaels? Yeah, me neither. But I stumbled onto them and thought this pendant was too cute to pass up. I admit, I don't love the chain I put it with, but I can always change that later.

Here's my crafty inner cheap girl: I used nailpolish for the colors instead of the $7.99 per color jewelry glaze. Madness. I mean, if you were to create a LOT of these pieces, it would make sense to invest in the glaze but for me, I went with the $1 per nail color option. I love the neon colors for summer:

Welcome to the sick

We've spent the last week sitting around the house being miserable. Not exactly sure what's going on with le bebe, but whatever it is/was, is not something I would like either of us to experience again. Basically there's been a lot of cartoons and ice cream around here lately, and not a lot of giggles and playtime. I think we're both ready for normal. And we're almost there. I hope.

Down on the farm

Here's some more gratuitous photos of my child. Because I can. It's funny, I took her to a real farm and don't have a single photo of her with an animal. Honestly, I almost left my camera at home so I could be more in the moment with her. Sometimes it's hard to capture the memory and create it all at the same time. Said every mamarazzi ever. So although I couldn't find it within myself to leave the camera at home, I did only use it for a few minutes. We were really busy saying hello to all the animals we've only seen in books. And playing in the dirt. And trying to make friends with every single field trip kid.

Delicious Dishes: Coconut lime peanut chicken

This dish was, wait for it, AMAZing. Honestly, the husband didn't love the peanut/chicken combo, but I love love LOVEd it. Apparently I just like slathering peanut butter on anything...

And I'm kind of proud of myself for growing those green onions myself, from the ends of a previously store-bought bunch. Another Pinterest idea. It's like a loving nagging grandmother insisting you be awesome. All. The. Time. Nobody's that awesome. But we all keep on pinning and pretending. Well, here's your chance: go make this awesome meal tonight.